STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Ruiz
SYNOPSIS
Requires water supplier to notify affected municipalities, school districts, charter schools, nonpublic schools, and institutions of higher education of violations of drinking water quality standards.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning notification of violations of drinking water quality standards, and supplementing P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The owner or operator of a public water system shall immediately notify, by telephone and electronic mail, the governing body of a municipality and the chief administrator of every school district, charter school, nonpublic school, and institution of higher education located within the municipality whenever the public water system incurs a violation requiring a Tier 2 Public Notice required pursuant to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations at Part 141, subpart Q of Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. The notification shall provide the name of any contaminant that exceeds a drinking water quality standard, the maximum contaminant level or the action level, as appropriate, for the contaminant, the level of the contaminant found on each date, the dates when the tests were performed, the location of each sample tested, and the location of each sample tested that exceeds a maximum contaminant level or action level. The owner or operator of the public water system shall also provide information on suggested remedies that a customer may take to address the violation.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the owner or operator of a public water system to immediately notify, by telephone and electronic mail, the governing body of a municipality and the chief administrator of every school district, charter school, nonpublic school, and institution of higher education located within the municipality whenever the public water system incurs a violation requiring a Tier 2 Public Notice required pursuant to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. The notification would provide the name of any contaminant that exceeds a drinking water quality standard, the maximum contaminant level or the action level, as appropriate, for the contaminant, the level of the contaminant found on each date, the dates when the tests were performed, the location of each sample tested and the location of each sample tested that exceeds a maximum contaminant level or action level. The bill also requires the owner or operator of the public water system to provide information on suggested remedies that a customer may take to address the violation.